Getting lease tax money back from government

[skrupp152]

Here’s a question for any of you who have gone through this situation OR know what to do in this case.

I lived in NJ when I got an Infiniti QX60 lease. NJ is one of the few states that takes the entire tax upfront. In my case, the upfront taxes were built into the adjusted cap cost. Irrelevant I suppose but it was paid that way and the lease payment was ~ 445/month.

Then I had to move to CA and once here, the sales tax was 9.5% which made the payment 487/month. For a situation like this, NJ allows you to file for a sales tax refund for the portion of the lease that was outside of NJ:

So I filled out the paperwork and attached my proof of moving, registration in California, original lease agreement, and receipts of NJ registration and NJ title receipt. That basically shows the sales tax was paid upfront in the lease:

It took them over 7 months, but NJ finally responded. But their response is to “please provide proof of payment to the NJ DMV”…

How are you supposed to provide proof of payment to the DMV for a car lease? That is stuff the car dealership and the Infiniti Financial Services would have done. The only thing I could think of, I already attached. The lease agreement, and the receipt pictures above for registration that shows sales tax receipt upfront.

I don’t see how I have any way to prove to the state that I, myself, paid the NJ DMV. I paid them through the lease itself, through IFS. I can’t show them a receipt itself for the sales tax of $1232.41 paid upfront.

Does anyone have any recommendations what to do? What kind of document(s) should I provide? This situation is kinda ridiculous. This auditor from the NJ tax refund department outght to know how car leases work. We don’t write checks to the DMV.

Thank you for any help in advance!

[nextlevelautobrokers]

Dealer can send u a copy of the invoice

They usually use a 3rd party vendor and usually keeps it with your file.

Good luck!

[IAC_Scott]

Since you already got a real answer, I just wanted to chime in and say:

Tax money, back, from the government???

[skrupp152]

From a lease signed in June 2017, would the dealer still have a record?

Am I asking for a copy of invoice of DMV fees?

Thank you

[derekoh1991]

Probably not. Most dealers keep the record until 3 years from the day that it was signed

[skrupp152]

I called the dealership, all they had was the buyers order and they emailed it to me. But that only shows a breakdown of price/cost, and net taxes paid.

I still don’t see how I can prove “I” paid the NJ DMV for a leased car now that it’s been over 3 years. It’s ridiculous an auditor would even ask this. Has he ever bought a car? You never pay the DMV directly when buying a new car.

[mp11477]

Put it another way…without proof, why should they refund you? Everyone and their mother would be requesting money all the time if that were the case.

If it was rolled into your lease, there should be a line item for it. Have you looked at your contract? If you don’t have it, that’s on you.

[TheBigTuna]

Wouldn’t the breakdown be on the lease agreement? There’s gotta be an invoice somewhere.

I think the DMV just wants a piece of paper showing what got paid.

[skrupp152]

Did you not see the receipt documents above? Of course there is a line item showing sales tax collected up front.

You are a trusted hacker, so have you ever paid the DMV yourself when you signed a new car lease? Of course not. You paid the dealership upfront and then through (Infiniti or others) Financial Services.

They are asking for “cancelled checks or bank statement” that shows payment to the DMV. You can only do that for a used car.
A new leased car?
My only check was written to the dealership and IFS. They then paid NJ, took care of the tax, the DMV fees, and I got the plates in the mail. Isn’t this how all your leases work? I don’t EVER recall leasing a new car, walking out with no DMV tags, and then filing the paperwork and paying the DMV directly.

Everyone and their mother can request money back if they leased a car in New Jersey and then subsequently moved out of state, re-registered it, and paid a monthly sales tax on that same lease vehicle.

I’ll attach the two documents (receipts) that NJ sent me. How is this not proof enough?

[skrupp152]

[mani_is_kool]

Maybe try writing back to auditor who doesn’t understand leasing to explain to him the situation? Im not from NJ, but Im guessing there is a way to communicate back to maybe explain or ask for further clarification since your situation is different from what the auditor assumed?

[j_e_f_f]

Yea, I would just reply back and send them the same 2 receipts posted above that you sent the first time.

A lot of times these people have no idea what they’re looking at and if anything is not exactly what they are trained to see then they reply with whatever form letter they feel suits.

“To whom it may concern, please see attached 2 receipts of car XYZ showing taxes paid of $1,232.41…”

[EC99]

It’s a guess but I’d suspect they are looking for your name somewhere on the receipt since they don’t want to go through work of linking VIN/Plates to your name. Of course that isn’t how leases work and that makes no sense for a tax refund program specifically for leases.

[gc2a]

Any update here? I’m experiencing the same issue!! Lease originated in NJ in Sept. 2020, moved to FL in July 2021, and am now being taxed the full FL rate of 7% on top of the original monthly amount, even though NJ were already paid/built into the monthly (Payment was about $500, now it is $535. Chrysler never even notified me, and since I’m on Autopay, I’ve incurred 2 months of late fees!)

Any tips/advice is appreciated. So far all I see is the NJ Form A-3730 claim for a refund. What do I need to include in it?

[spockvr6]

I’ve taken over a few leases via swap that had tax already built in from NY/NJ and when the lease transferred to Florida I always had the additional 7% added…It seems like there’s a way to get this credited back, but the effort may not be worth it.

In other words, the 500 or so bucks you might get back will probably take 500 hours of your time😢.

[gc2a]

Understandable, but it’s closer to $1000 for me…

[spockvr6]

That starts to become worth the bureaucratic battle😉

[gc2a]

well there’s 24 months left on the lease, so I may as well try. Just gonna dump every bit of evidence on them as I can… buyer’s order, contract, cancelled check (if I can get it from the dealer lol), new FL reg/DL, etc.

[EC99]

There are certainly exceptions but the general experience I have seen here is that if you move from an upfront taxation state (whether just on total amount of lease payments like NJ or on total value like VA) you generally get screwed.

A quick Google search doesn’t turn up any provision in NJ for getting the tax refunded. The DMV mentions the form you cite to but in relation to a canceled lease, not moving out of state. And this makes sense from a basic political perspective. Why would a state want to refund money to someone moving out of state. You aren’t a voter there anymore.

For purchased vehicles it is simple, almost every state honors sales tax paid in the previous state (note the state you left doesn’t refund the sales tax). Not sure why a similar system doesn’t exist for leases.

[aronchi]

@EC99

A quick Google search doesn’t turn up any provision in NJ for getting the tax refunded. The DMV mentions the form you cite to but in relation to a canceled lease, not moving out of state. And this makes sense from a basic political perspective. Why would a state want to refund money to someone moving out of state. You aren’t a voter there anymore.

Pretty sure even getting it back for a canceled lease is a PITA.